Betfair’s Blue Square Purchase Shuts Down Affiliates

Betfair’s recent acquisition of Blue Square’s sports betting sites was a real boost for the company’s efforts to enter the fixed odds betting market. But for Blue Square employees and affiliate the deal is nothing but bad.

According to e-mails and published reports, Betfair did not include Blue Square’s affiliate program as part of the sale. Though the company has said it will pay off affiliates any outstanding revenue, any players the affiliates brought in will be lost forever. (Blue Square offered lifetime revenue and was not endorsed by CAP.)

While the news is bad for affiliates, it’s much worse for Blue Square employees. As many as 45 of them have already received layoff notification. It’s believed that another 20 employees are in line for the same treatment.

Though Betfair is expanding its acquisitions portfolio with the Blue Square purchase, the company has been streamlining operations over the last year. As part of that effort, the company pulled out of markets in Greece and Cyprus.

Blue Square, a UK facing sports betting site, is believed to have had around 120,000 customers.

The betting exchange market is definitely in transition after InTrade shut down last month, so it’s not surprising to see them acquiring traditional sports books.

2 Responses to Betfair’s Blue Square Purchase Shuts Down Affiliates

blue square would have been one of the worst of the online sportsbooks , certainly the worst i ever dealt with, good riddance to them, a real mickey mouse lot.
sorry for the emplyees though, but then i suppose some of them would have been those that gave me smart alec answers etc, held up my requests for a withdrawal etc.
why betfair would want to buy them escapes me, don r